Sunday, 3 June 2018

Queen - Queen II (1974)

Released March 1974

Recorded at Trident Studios, London

In 1974, Queen were still something of a "cult" band. One (comparatively) minor chart hit in "Seven Seas Of Rhye" had brought them to people's attention and this, my personal favourite Queen album, still slipped under the radar in comparison to later works.Lyrically, fairies, queens, dragonflies, ogres and the like were still prevalent and the music the mixture of "heavy" and piano-driven melodic delicacy that we had been introduced to on their 1973 debut album. There was, thankfully, no of the 1920s-style Mercury foppery that, in my opinion, so blighted "A Night At The Opera". "A Day At The Races" and, to a lesser extent "Sheer Heart Attack". Give me white queens and ogre battles to lazing on a Sunday afternoon. A strange choice to make when assessing a "rock" band's music, but the "heavy" bits on "White Queen", "Father To Son" and "Ogre Battle" win out and make "Queen II" a very credible album.TRACK LISTING1. Procession2. Father To Son3. White Queen4. Some Day One Day5. The Loser In The End6. Ogre Battle7. The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke8. Nevermore9. The March Of The Black Queen10. Funny How Love Is11. Seven Seas Of RhyeDespite the appeal of "Father To Son" and "White Queen" as openers, the ethereal "Some Day One Day" and the completely incongruous "Taylor track", "The Loser In The End", (written by drummer Roger Taylor) where he regrets allowing his mother to wash his clothes for him in his youth, it is the old "side two" that steals the show.Segued as one complete whole, "Abbey Road" style, we get one Queen classic after another - the afore-mentioned "Ogre Battle"; the artist Richard Dadd-inspired lyrical wonder of "Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke"; the beautiful but brief "Nevermore" leading into the tour de force and forerunner to "Bohemian Rhapsody" that is "March Of The Black Queen" (in many ways I prefer it to "Rhapsody"). Then it is the harmonious "Funny How Love Is" before the single "Seven Seas Of Rhye" signs off to what is, in my opinion, the finest twenty minutes in Queen's career."Queen II" is proof that Queen weren't always the "singles band" that some later albums unfortunately suggested they may be.A-

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About Me

I was born in the late 1950s, into the rock n roll years. My musical taste covers largely the late 50s to the 90s, although there are favourite artists of mine who are still releasing material now, that I still like, of course.
My tastes include Rock, Soul, Reggae, Northern Soul, Motown, Blues, Jazz, Folk, Country, Funk, Disco, Glam, World, New Wave, Punk, Two Tone.
The opinions I express in these reviews are just that, opinions, nothing more, nothing less. If I don't like as album as much as you do, don't hold it against me! Music is all about opinions. I am not writing these reviews to provide information as to who played what, who produced the album, what barcode it has, or to provide "factoids" about it. There are many books and bloggers that do that. I am just wishing to express how much I like the songs in question, in many cases. Sometimes I listen to a song and I just want to write down what I feel about it. Just a personal indulgence.
After spending most of my life in the South of England, attending hundreds of gigs, particularly in the punk era, I now live a quiet life in the Scottish Borders.